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Analysis on Obama's speech
Analysis on Obama's speech
Analysis on Obama's speech
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Senator Barack Obama speech, “Remarks of Senator Barack Obama: ‘ A More Perfect Union’ (2008),” President Barack Obama, addresses racial pressures, white privilege, race, and discrimination in the United States. He uses parallel constructions, as he includes the history of U.S. slavery and the trouble in the Middle East; allusion, by opening his speech with the first line of the U.S. Constitution; and also by including himself in his address as a character. His purpose of this speech is to denounce Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s, his form pastor, controversial comments, in order to, distance himself from the negative backlash and to have a truthful talk on racism and to unite the historical racial divide. President Barack Obama’s intended audience is ethnic groups, society, and economic divisions, religions, and the American people. …show more content…
It makes me think about how the older generation has affected people's lives in the society we live in today. President Barack Obama’s knowledge of history and the way he uses it in his address aids the audience in relating the past with the present. After reading the Reverend Wright’s words, he does have the right to express his views, but it is the wrong time and wrong setting. I agree with President Obama’s ideas in this speech of moving beyond America's “racial stalemate” (Obama) and working together to address common racial social problems. President Barack Obama defensive attitude concerning his former pastor showed compassion and loyalty; these are actual important characteristic of the leader of our
Roy Peter Clark, author of “A More Perfect Union”: Why It Worked, takes a stance on President Barack Obama’s speech while analyzing it. President Barack Obama delivered a speech titled “A More Perfect Union.” His speech focused on the prominent issue of racism in America. In this article, Clark talks about President Obama’s known power and brilliance. Clark makes references and comparisons to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and W.EB. DuBois. “A More Perfect Union” features writing techniques that makes the message more defined and effective. President Obama utilizes four closely related rhetorical strategies. Clark broadly explains the purpose of the rhetorical strategies. Allusion, parallelism, two-ness, and autobiography helped to shape President Obama’s speech that that was meant to create
What he was claiming was that African Americans slaves were born in the United States so they should be entitled to same American values given to the white Americans. He also goes ahead to bash the government for the attitudes towards his people and goes on to explain how he feels they are be exploited. His impact that he intended to have from this speech had been to bring freedom to African American’s by letting proper democratic ideals decide who is entitled to what rights. During the time of the speech he said black American’s should be ashamed to celebrate this holiday due to the misdeeds and unfair enforcement of these laws. His main take away from this was that the slavery going on in America was harmful and illegal because they violated the founding father principle rights. Throughout him speaking he goes on to undercut many powerful institutions in America that are simply letting slavery go on and not doing anything about it (Church). He is a very faithful man and believes looking back at his sentiments will ring home and show that he was inevitably correct in due time. In conclusion this ties to the ideas that African Americans should not have to celebrate this holiday until they feel like they are being equally treated under the same law are the white
He talks about how the emancipation is very important to us African Americans, but to other white people it was just a speech because it did not really involve them, so they really just did not care because it was not their history. As Americans, I feel we share the same history because it was just not the blacks that got everything passed for them, but it was also the whites because we all played a separate part with it. When issues like this come up I just look back on the elections of my president Obama. Every one said that us as African Americans we got him into office both times, but if the whole black population would of voted just for Obama he would not have won.... ...
He took a stand to make a difference in something he was passionate about and he urged the American people to do the same. He made the audience realize that even if this law is passed there will always be times that We the American people will also have to take a stand to do what’s right. His speech is so well written it makes it seem like the only option is to vote for the law to be passed. In a way this speech inspired me to take a stand when something wrong is happening and make a difference. Living in a time period where this was a big issue would have been hard but, I think it needed to happen to show the world that just because your skin color or religion we are all American people and we all need to work together to make this place
When Barack Obama ran for presidency, there were a lot of questions about his race, color, and whether he was born in the U.S.. The comments from his pastor Jeremiah Wright put him in an awkward situation, so he decided to give this speech to prove the point that we are all the same and live in the same country, so there shouldn’t be any discrimination among anyone. In his speech, Obama uses rhetorical devices to explain how race discrimination is affecting our country and us in every way possible. The use of rhetorical devices in this speech has strong effects on the audience. The use of allusion, symbolism, optimistic tone, and repetition of words gives the speech a strong argumentative tone. He argues the fact that to be able to achieve such big goals and how out country was supposed to be from the beginning, we need to stay united and rely on younger
“A More Perfect Union” was delivered by Barack Obama on March 18, 2008. At the time her gave the speech he was senator and running in the president election. Obama responded to his former pastor Jeremiah Wright, and also discussed the issue with race in America. This problem is important to us as a whole, because we went through plenty of racism in the past. He wants the prevent those incidents from according again. He did an excellent job using rhetoric tools to support his beliefs, which led to a successful election.
‘We mourn with you for the fallen. We join you in your grief’. He also draws parallels between the nations mourning following the shooting and the mourning that comes with losing a family member, thereby implying that all Americans are a family. This strengthens an overall intention of the speech: together the Americans in their time of mourning. The overall tone of the speech is very serious and dignified, which is natural given the circumstances. This is not a light speech that should contain humor, but is a serious and important link in a healing process. Obama’s choice of language is very intelligent and wise, thereby also making him trust invoking, as he presents himself as a capable and knowing president, but at the same time it is understandable to the masses–an important factor when addressing an entire nation, not all of which
He mentions the very recent violence that occurred in Selma, Alabama; where African Americans were attacked by police while preparing to march to Montgomery to protest voting rights discrimination. Without mentioning this violent event that occurred a week prior, there would not be much timeliness to his argument, and it wouldn’t have been as effective. The timeliness of his argument gave the speech a lot more meaning, and it heightened the emotions of many who heard the address. He is appealing to the emotions of many American people, both Congressmen and ordinary citizens, to encourage them to support his cause. He reminds us of all of the Americans around the world that are risking their lives for our freedom. He refers to them as “guardians of our liberty.” He also address the problem as the whole nation should be concerned not just the north, the south, or the African American
He makes sure his audience connects with him directly by making them feel at his level, and at hiss. This way he connects to the audience, and in exchange, helps his statement of unity. Using various examples of parallelism, anaphora and refrain, Obama brands the theme of equality and togetherness in our country throughout the speech, vital to gaining the respect of his audience. Obama recalls the ‘enduring strength of the constitution’ by delving into the past alluding to America’s allegiance to the Declaration of Independence by quoting “we hold these truths. that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”.
“The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife, – this longing to attain self-consciousness, manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, for America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message f...
President Obama, in his 2013 State of the Union Address, describes how the issues in education, job creation, new technologies, and environmentalism are crucial in the growth and development of our economy. His purpose is to urge members of Congress and Americans to help reform our government to ensure that those who work hard are able to succeed. Speaking with an authoritative voice, he persuades his audience that although things are going better than before, changes still need to be made to continue to improve the American way of life.
In the beginning of the speech Barack Obama reflects back to where his parents and grandparents came from and what they did as their occupation. Obama shows pathos, logos and ethos many times throughout his 2004 keynote speech. He also spoke on why his mother and father gave him the name that they gave him. By doing so, Barack Obama showed pathos throughout the speech and got his audience to know him a bit before pursuing the Democratic Party to vote for John Kerry. He appeals to his audience by mentioning that his parents are both passed away, and from the look of things that did not stop him from standing where he was that day with pride and sadness:
The purpose of this speech was to encourage African - Americans to stand up for their rights and vote, so that their voices will be heard. This was incredibly during that time period because even though slavery had been abolished nearly a hundred years earlier, African - American were still being undoubtedly oppressed by white Americans. He also wants his audience to consider what would be the most efficient way to make sure that their voices are heard, by using the democratic opportunities available to them, and voting, or by resorting to violence to gain attention. It should also be understood as a warning to white Americans, that if the black community do not receive the respect they deserve then they will choose to use violence against them.
William Apess then asks his mostly white audience to reexamine their Christian values along with their prejudices. His essay acknowledges that unless the discrimination and prejudices that plague the white man over the other races disappear, then there won’t be peace in the Union.
We may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction. Barack Obama’s speech “A More Perfect Union” (Nov. 17, 2008) captivates our nation with its thought out structure of the division and inequality in America. Obama successfully used allusion and repetition. Along with personal anecdotes to identify with the audience.